In a time where television shows rely on sexual or violent plotlines in order to form and maintain a loyal fan base, the average American girl cannot expect to watch anything without being told she needs to dress more fashionably, be skinnier, or be promiscuous.
However, ABC Family took care of that and gave the average American girl a show that, addresses modern topics, but is not based on promiscuity.
Ever since January, when “Jane by Design” premiered on ABC, I have been obsessed. The story follows an awkward high school girl that gets offered an internship at Donovan Decker, a fashion company.
The catch is that she is mistaken for an adult, therefore ends up juggling two very different lives, hiding her high school situation from the fashion industry and vice versa.
Naturally, the show contains some archetypical characters: the overly protective older brother; the evil nemesis that wants to get Jane fired; the ridiculously difficult-to-please boss that doesn’t like anybody, but ends up liking Jane; and of course, the not one, but three love interests the heroine gets to choose between.
These love interests are each their own archetype as well: the drool-worthy jock; the best-friend-that-finally-realizes-he’s-in-love; and the older fashion designer.
Basically, if the screenwriters would choose so, this show’s plot could indeed turn into the stereotypical, “everyone’s doing it and everyone is a size zero!”
But so far, the screenwriters have chosen to please the audience in a different way, through an entertaining, unpredictable, age-appropriate plotline.
This show is definitely best suited for girls that dream of going into the fashion industry through hard work, but it satisfies its general audience through intriguing moments that don’t reek of poorly acted, overly dramatic scenes.
Every person on the cast is charming in their own way and chances are people will hate the villain, but love her outfits.
Overall, there is nothing negative about this show, other than the fact that new episodes do not come out until summer.
I also highly recommend it for mother-daughter bonding time as well.